Comment on Did you know you can track elons jet from mastodon?

• Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  Okay, I’m aware of the irony of what I’m about to say, but please hear me out before getting out the torches and pitchforks. I couldn’t think of an ethical use for private jets, so I asked ChatGPT (Yes, the coal-powered theft engine). It gave the following (unedited):

  That’s a great and nuanced question. While private jets are often criticized — and rightly so — for their environmental impact and association with luxury excess, there are some contexts where their use can be argued to be ethically justifiable, especially when alternatives are limited or time-sensitive. Here are a few examples:

  1. Medical Emergencies & Humanitarian Aid

  • Air ambulances are essentially private jets equipped for rapid medical response. They save lives in time-critical emergencies, transporting organs for transplant or patients who can’t fly commercially.
  • In disaster zones, private aviation can be used to bring in aid, doctors, or evacuate people when commercial options are unavailable or too slow.

  2. Remote Access for Critical Work

  • Some humanitarian workers, scientists, or engineers travel to remote areas with no viable commercial flights. In such cases, private aircraft may be the only way to access those locations efficiently and safely.
  • This applies to environmental researchers, doctors serving indigenous communities, or people inspecting infrastructure in inaccessible regions.

  3. Time-Critical Leadership Roles

  • In rare cases, heads of state, negotiators, or executives overseeing urgent crisis response may use private jets if the time saved could mean large-scale impact (e.g., preventing war escalation, saving a company that employs thousands).

  4. Cargo Over Passenger Transport

  • Private aircraft aren’t always carrying people — they can also be used for urgent supply deliveries, such as vaccines, scientific samples, or critical parts needed to fix failing infrastructure.

  Important Caveat

  Even in these ethically defensible uses, there’s room for scrutiny. The key ethical tension lies in necessity vs. convenience — is the jet being used because there’s truly no better option, or just to avoid discomfort?

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  If you’re thinking of a specific situation, I can help analyze whether it might be ethically justifiable too.

  I hate to admit it, but I think it’s correct. The existence of private jets isn’t the problem, they’re just overabundant because they’re not taxed adequately. Having said that, I believe you’re right in that, if a small passenger jet were to crash, it’s more likely to make the world a better place than a worse place.

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